The Untold Story
by Greyella
Summary: Harsh exteriors and pretenses are hard to overcome. But a rather provocative encounter between coy Galinda and sarcastic Elphaba leads to the beginnings of understanding between the incompatible roommates and further interesting situations. ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue: Vegetables and Innuendos

The dorm room was silent, save for the quiet (yet quite audible) sound of a pencil tapping against a wooden desk. It was evening and the frilly pink drapes on one side of the room had been drawn closed. The plain university-provided drapes on the other, were not. The pencil tapping increased in pace, yet its rhythm was slightly off. Had you been there, you would have been severely annoyed.

"Stop it." Elphaba spoke clearly, although she didn't bother herself with looking up from her current book. A page turned. The pencil tapping progressed.

"Stop it, _now_." The green-skinned girl continued to read as if she had never issued her command. The thwapping of the pencil, however, continued on as though blissfully unaware, although its tapper was quite conscious of the other girl's plight, mild as it was. The book slammed shut with a satisfying clack, and the pencil fell to the floor as Galinda jumped in her chair with a surprised gasp. Glowering eyes came from across the room, and as sensing them, the blond turned.

"What, in the name of Lurline, has ever _possessed_ you?" The blonde stood up from her desk chair indignantly. Elphaba unbent herself from her hinged position, and now sat on the bed crossed-legged.

"Ah, it speaks!" She said sarcastically. "Well, _pretty_, according to you, we already have established that the _possession_, so to speak, is the spirit, that of an extremely overly-steamed vegetable…an artichoke, I do believe, if you want specifics." Elphaba smirked not so nicely.

"_Miss _Elphaba, you know fully well that this is not the possession of which I speak!" Galinda was starting to flush.

"Ah…you must be referring to the book then, that I possess. My possession, it is." Elphaba couldn't help but bait the silly girl, it was a favorite…pass-time, call it, if you will. Galinda would have blown a gasket, had she known what one was.

"I'm not in the mood for a word game with a green bean." Galinda looked fairly pleased with herself at the insult. Elphaba, however, was not impressed.

"It's going to take more than ridiculous vegetable insults, _pretty_, to get under _this_ skin." At some point Elphaba had gotten off the bed, and now both girls were standing in fairly close proximity of one another; the green one glaring down at the pink.

"Well then, it seems my work is done. As no one could _ever_ get close enough to you, or have want to touch your skin, let alone get underneath you." Elphaba flinched, it was barely visible, but it was there. It seemed Galinda had hit upon a button, and won a point. Though, she was not so sure it was a point she had wanted to win after all. Galinda felt the pains of regret. Outwardly, the blow had seemed to barely hit; a small annoyance to the green girl. But as Elphaba kept her composure, she felt the hurt swirl inside for a small moment, before she tucked it away in a little room, with all the previous ones.

There was a short silence then, filled with tension. And the fight, in tacit agreement, ceased. Elphaba continued on in a normal voice as if the previous comment was never uttered.

"I merely wanted you to stop that incessant noise. It would have been unwise for your health, as had it continued much longer you might have found that pencil in a bodily orifice." Galinda, for her part, blushed to the tip of her roots, and appeared quite flustered. Elphaba had expected a retort, not…this.

Intrigued now, she said, "Not that this isn't an interesting look for you, but what on earth did I say to yield _that_ response?" Galinda couldn't seem to meet her roommate's eyes, and was now biting her lip. An eyebrow rose very high as Elphaba realized how exactly her roommate had construed her comment. She cackled, and the blonde's blush deepened. It seemed that it had now spread to her neck and ears.

With amused glee, Elphaba circled her roommate now. "Well, who'd have thought that _Miss_ Galinda, Galinda the _good_, the _innocent_," Elphaba moved her arms about mockingly, "the…_pure_, would have jumped to the conclusion that I meant _that_ particular orifice?" If it were possible, at the word _orifice_ Galinda seemed to blush even more. Elphaba leaned in close to the blonde and twirled a golden curl between her fingers teasingly.

Galinda shivered despite herself at the hot breath that caressed her ear. "My _dear girl_, I simply meant that I would shove the pencil up your…nose," That throaty voice washed over her and Galinda felt…odd.

Elphaba pulled away and resumed her normal height. She walked back to the bed picked up her book and appeared to resume reading. Galinda, however, thoroughly confused about the recent events and her reactions, remained standing in the room with a stunned look on her slightly-lessening pink face.

Elphaba too, was perplexed at the turn of events. She had gained unexpected insight into her blonde roommate, who apparently had a dirty mind, and a quick tongue…She cackled in her head at the last thought, and smirked. Perhaps she would tell the pretty thing _that_ tomorrow, and see what color her roommate turned then. Innuendos, it seemed were a great bit of fun.


	2. The First Sight of Content

Collectively, the students of Shiz University breathed a sigh of relief. Midterms were finally over, and a slight school recess was now upon them. Most students chose to go home during this rare time, but some remained upon the campus grounds.

Elphaba was one of them. Dutiful sister she was, she "helped" Nessarose pack her rather large and obnoxious-looking trunk for home, at Colwen Grounds. Or rather, Nessarose directed and bossed, and Elphaba…Elphaba endured like she always had. To her mind, even Galinda wasn't nearly as trying as Nessarose on her best day.

The train traveled away from Shiz until it was nothing more than a small speck on the horizon. Once the younger Thropp was gone, Elphaba relaxed a bit. No Nessarose, meant no Nanny, and to top it off, Galinda too was going to her home in Frottica, far away from Elphaba. She could let her guard down, for a bit. Things between the two roommates had been a bit different, since the 'orifice incident.' As she walked, the towers of Shiz came back into her view, and she admired their strength.

Her boot-clad feet clomped up the last flight of stairs that led to her hallway. It was empty, a change from its usual hustle and bustle, and groups of gaggling girls. Elphaba stood basking in the silence for a bit, and then continued on her way, down to the end of the hall.

She pulled out an old-fashioned key fastened around her neck on a black leather cord that hid underneath her dress. The green girl took it off, pulling it over inky hair, and then keyed the lock. The lock refused to yield. Several minutes passed, as the doors in the hall paid silent witness to Elphaba's struggle with the unrelenting door. Despite various wiggles and waggles of the key and then subsequent shoulder thrusts to the door itself, the door didn't budge a hair-width.

'_This is ridiculous.'_ Elphaba thought. A spell materialized into mind, as they often did, and without thinking she uttered it,

"Alohomora."

With a click, the door swung inward without a squeak; perfectly compliant. She half walked, half trudged into the dorm room, boots shuffling along the carpet sounding swish-like noises. The room was quiet, and Elphaba deduced that Miss Galinda had already departed for home.

'_How __**just**__ like the little pretty, to go off cavorting with no word whatsoever at all.'_

She frowned at herself as she realized that it _actually_ annoyed her that the blonde hadn't at the very least _informed_ Elphaba of her break-plans. Now Elphaba was just annoyed at herself.

'_It's not as if the bubble-head and I are on friendly speaking terms; I barely tolerate her idiotic presence.'_

And with that last thought Elphaba pushed her roommate from her head and with one good kick of a leg, the left boot flew off and hit the wall leaving a faint black mark. Happy and satisfied with the slight destruction, she repeated the action with the right. The green girl rolled her neck back, arched her back, and stretched up her slender arms toward the ceiling, much like a cat. She sighed lightly as various joints cracked and settled back into their proper place. Her sights turned toward the bookshelf. She trailed over the many book titles with fingers grazing their beloved spines; searching. An elegant and very green index finger pulled a rather plain and shabby selection of indeterminable color toward her bosom. But then Elphaba knew, better than anyone else, that covers and color mattered not, it was the content that lay inside. The most beautiful of books often held vile and misleading attributes.

Her long plait was slightly mussed from the outside wind that blew, weaving in and out, through the sturdy buildings of Shiz, but she seemed not to notice, or rather not to care. She curled, or rather folded-in on herself, with her selection in the far corner of her bed, which was shoved against the wall. Fingers lightly traced the raised letters with reverence, as if absorbing and worshipping their meaning, through touch alone. Eager then, almost greedily, the green forms opened the book and eyes prepared to dive in, with mind to follow. The world began to disappear and it fell away, as words become Elphaba's house and shelter.

A loud 'SLAM!' and then sobbing ensued, rudely pulling Elphaba back into her body with a start of surprise. The huge bed across the room, with mountains of frilly covers and blankets, seemed to engulf her petite roommate as she cried into its warmth, body shaking, blond curls spilling over her shoulders and onto the wrinkled and now tear-ridden comforter.

Elphaba threw her book onto her own bed, realizing that reading now would be fruitless and impossible.

"Silly girl, what trivial occurrence happened this time? It must have been quite tragic for you to allow your bed to eat you." Elphaba spoke sarcastically.

The sobbing quieted a bit, and the blonde pushed herself up with both hands and turned toward Elphaba's voice. Hair mussed, she seemed to be at loss for words. Her nose was red and cheeks were stained from salty tear tracks that waved down her face. It was clear from the surprise in the blonde's eyes and their wide-open look that Galinda had not noticed anyone else was in the room. The two just looked at one another. When Galinda finally spoke it was soft and defeated,

"It appears, that I will not be going home, to Frottica, after all."

Elphaba, unused to the civility with which she spoke, tried to turn the conversation back to their usual bickering and sarcastic tone. The vulnerability that shone from her roommate's face was… disconcerting.

"And it is _this_, that upsets you? That you'll be here, in close proximity, with green-ole me? Please, _pretty_, do enlighten me. Pray tell how this would be different that any other day in your lovely existence?" Galinda was sitting up on the bed edge, tears running down her face in delicate streams.

"Miss Elphaba, you _mean_ green bean, I'm not in the mood for one of your sarcastic spats right now." Elphaba was surprised at the emphasis the blonde put on 'mean,' rather than the 'green' in her answer. It was almost as the 'green bean' was a…a nick-name of sorts, rather than an insult. It was disconcerting indeed.

In a very uncharacteristic 'Elphaba move,' on impulse she got off her bed and made her way to an upset roommate, and sat down on her next to her on the bed, the pink thing it was.

"Alright then, dear roommate, a truce for now…until your mood improves." Galinda continued as if this was not an odd occurrence at all, this temporary white flag, though it was.

"I am not to go home." Elphaba rolled her eyes. But spoke…less severely than usual.

"Your future whereabouts are not in question, as you've already established that fact."

"On a whim, Mummy and Daddy have gone on holiday, to a resort in the Vinkus…" Galinda nodded her head toward the crumpled piece of parchment clutched in her hand, which Elphaba evidently had not noticed until now. It was a letter quite obviously, scrawled quickly, judging from its length and penmanship. The blond looked down at her lap and said quietly,

"…again." Elphaba frowned. It had never occurred to her that Galinda's family perhaps lacked in attention to their daughter.

"They promised in their last note….th-that I could come home…this time." The blonde's lip quivered and a lone tear leaked from an eye and slowly traveled down to her chin where it hung; a droplet, and Elphaba suppressed an odd urge to wipe it away.

"They _did_ say, though, that a new dress, they had made in the city, was on its way." It was clear that _this_ was not a sufficient pacification from her tone.

Elphaba's mind reeled. _'Galinda adores new clothes…new dresses, more than __**anything**__.'_ Her closet filled with the latest Ozian fashions was a testament to that.

Elphaba was at a loss at how to deal with this new information, and was at even more of a loss when she found the blonde's head of curls resting on her shoulder.

'_Perhaps,'_ Elphaba mused, _'the pretty thing is deeper in content then we all have been led to believe.'_

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: The Alohomora spell belongs to J.K. Rowling, I just borrowed it from the Harry Potter world for a clock-tick.<br>_


	3. Conversations: of Stones and in Closets

A pink tongue poked out from its dark haven to sample a flake of snow. It melted quickly on its warm and moist cavern terrain. Arms lifted up to the sky as Galinda twirled around, basking in the reign of the snow. Child-like eyes eagerly took in vast hills on the far outskirts of Shiz-land, covered in white (save for a tiny stripe of yellow one could have made out with their eyes squinted shut). The curves were unmarked, unmarred; pristine. It was as if the earth had touched Lurline herself; her womanly curves and virgin skin. Trees moaned their creaks under the wet weight of heavy snow that piled upon branches, sounding faintly like two lovers, if one knew how to listen.

The sidewalks and small cobblestone streets within Shiz and the city that surrounded it were unevenly laden with grey slush and dirtied snow, but out on the border edge, the precipitation was unaltered, spared from human existence and grubby touch. A minty-cool taste accompanied the air. And when Galinda breathed in, she took in gulps through her mouth, letting it sustain her for the time being. She hugged her arms around herself to keep away the chill that crept in. Snowflakes fell and lodged themselves gently in her exposed curls that peeked out from under a white woolen beret.

Her guttural scream broke the serenity as she charged, running into a snow drift and kicking out violently with her legs; disturbing the smooth contours of the snow-body. All around her, the snow lay in silent clumps and she stood in a sunken uneven crater, marring the crystal canvas. It was an unexpected blemish in sea of white beauty. But to Galinda, the imperfection was absolute perfection.

* * *

><p>The fashionable white-woolen form blended in with the ambience of the day. No doubt that is why Galinda had chosen this particular ensemble. She trolled along with ease to one destination or another, in no seeming hurry. The maze-like paths making their way throughout Shiz were mostly emptied of students, save for the few there and here.<p>

Galinda frowned at the lack of people. In her frustration, she kicked at a small asymmetrical pebble that had broken off from a cobble stone. It rolled in an irregular pattern, coming to stop directly in the path of a carriage, and shattered with a crunch when the front spoke-wheel rolled over it. Had Elphaba been there, the green girl probably would have done something most Elphaba-like and gone off into one of her Animal tangents, about the stone or possibly would-be _Stone_. Galinda giggled at the mere thought…

_**You little, idiot**__' The green girl would say, gesturing aggressively. 'You've altered his path __**intentionally**__!"_

_And just to be contrary Galinda would say innocently, "well now, I __**did**_ _kick it didn't I? So yes, one __**would**__ assume that I intentionally set it off its original course."_

_Elphaba at this point would glare at Galinda and point vigorously. "Not his physical path, you bubble-head, but his course, his destiny to fulfill.'_

_And Glinda would then pretend that a light-bulb of understanding had struck and would reply with a clap, 'Ooooooooh, __**that**_ _path!' _

_Elphaba would raise her hands to her temples in attempt to alleviate her frustration, unsuccessfully, of course. 'So then, you understand my point, __**Miss Flower**__, who shattered the __**Stone**__?'_

'_What is __**it**__?' Galinda at this point would have missed the actual point._

'_**Exactly**__!' Elphaba would think she has finally broken though that "blond-barrier" of Galinda's._

'_**What**__?' Galinda, while as she was confused before, she was now __actually lost__ in the land-of-confusion._

'_No, not __**what**__, you ninny! __**Who**__! It's a whom we're talking about, not a which. A whom!' Elphaba would be beside herself by this stage in the….uh, conversation, call it what you will._

_Galinda would now think about Elphaba's last statements for several long moments in the quiet now between the two. The almost quiet actually, Elphaba's breathing would be coming quite often and hard from all her efforts._

_Galinda would then finally speak, 'Elphaba?' Elphaba would look up at the sound of her name._

'_What?,' the green girl would flatly reply._

_With an utterly confused look gracing her features Galinda would ask, 'But __**which**__ whom?'_

_And at this, Elphaba would throw her hands up with an incredulous expression plastered upon her sneering face and with an '__**Arggggggggh**__' would stalk off to Oz-knows-where._

Galinda giggled as she returned to reality and with surprise found herself nearly back to Shiz. Evidently, her body had carried her along though her mind was elsewhere. Lately, what she had termed "Had _Elphaba_ Been There" scenarios randomly kept popping into her head at the most inopportune of times. Galinda supposed that they were not a bad thing, really. But she didn't quite know what to make of them. She supposed that the two of them were tentative friends, barely. But that night before term break had begun, the green girl had been so-

"Miss Galinda, Miss Galinda!"

At the first tone of that distinctively high and grating voice, Galinda's eyes began searching for the nearest alleyway. By the second 'Galinda' she had found it to her left and had ducked into it, at the moment not caring in the slightest about its state of cleanliness, or rather non-state.

"Miss Gaa-linda, wait! Miss Gaa-linda!" A very unhappy dingy black cat (she hoped it was a cat and not a _Cat_…) hissed and spat at her as she managed to step on its tail while trying to avoid the other various non-identifiable cast-out lumps strewn in the narrow alleyway. She thanked Lurline that she had chosen to wear her sturdy lace-up winter boots today, and not the flimsy sheepskin ones. They seemed to suit her purpose just fine: running and dodging certain Munchkins, not a factor she usually considered, but non-the-less quite helpful considering her current predicament. The badly lit alleyway ended abruptly and she nearly crashed into the brick wall staring into her nose.

'_Right or left?'_ She thought. Galinda inadvertently did a little dance with her hips and legs, back and forth, back and forth, as she vacillated and debated with herself which way to go.

'_Left it is,'_ she arbitrarily decided. _'He should have passed me by now. Then I'll double back behind him and he'll just think he lost me.'_

The passage was short, only a few lengths long; it functioned as a connecting passageway to another alley, parallel to the first she'd taken. Galinda turned left again, no longer running as she made her way down the third alley; she had time to be conscious of the _lovely_ scenery.

Galinda squeaked as she stepped in something unidentifiable and squishy on the floor. "Oh ew, this is _so_ grotesque, Elphie would be- "

'_Elphie,'_ she mused taken aback, _'where in the name of Oz did that come fr-'_ She then made the mistake of putting her hand on the wall. Something crawled over it.

After that, Galinda decided to walk a more quickly. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel was nearing, quite literally. She could see the opening to the alleyway and prudently she poked her head out. The three passageways completed three-sides of a rough rectangle, and placed Galinda just a few lengths behind her original position outside in the old cobblestone street.

The blonde sighed with obvious relief. It seemed she had eluded another close encounter with Biq or whatever his name was. Cliché but true, he had fallen for her the moment he laid eyes on Galinda. At first, she had tried to gently discourage his amorous doe-eye affections, to no avail. And honesty about her own disinterest toward romantic relations with the boy didn't seem to work either. Then she tried ignoring him. She also tried being plain mean. None of these strategies in the slightest had managed to deter his misplaced affections, much to Galinda's discontent and chagrin.

It had gone past the point where even Elphaba was thoroughly annoyed. And after he tried to serenade Galinda underneath the window (_tried_, being the key word here) At her wits' end, Elphaba had simply snapped. In a fit of irritation, she enchanted the tree outside their bedroom window to grow tomatoes at an alarmingly fast rate and chuck them continuously at Boq, whenever he approached. Elphaba's magic was connected to her emotion, that much Galinda knew; Elphaba must have been exceptionally ireful to magically persuade _tree_ limbs to chuck _tomatoes_. Though tomatoes technically are fruit, they often consorted closely with their relatives, the vegetables. So one _would_ think that Elphaba would have some sort of odd kinship with the red globes. Galinda grinned quite mischievously, as she opened the door. She looked around the room and upon not finding her green roommate there, pouted and stomped her feet childishly.

'_For Ozma's sake!'_ She scowled, _'I finally have a vegetable quip and she isn't even __**here**_ _to hear it.'_

Galinda plopped down on the loveseat, her arms crossed and still pouting. She had barely made herself comfortable when she heard footsteps and voices carrying-in through the shut door.

"—n the market place not a half-candle mark ago, please Miss Elphaba could you just _check_ if sh—"

"Did the continued dodging of yourself not clue you in, or perhaps was cavorting with half of the eligible _**and**_ ineligible males of our year _still_ not enough? But still Master Boq, I would think that even _**you**_ would notice trees flinging projectile tomatoes at immense speeds tailored to your precise height, and for once in your short life, pun-intended, BE ENLIGHTENED!" This last line echoed down the hall fiercely.

Taking her cue from this conversation, without hesitation Galinda promptly hid herself in the nearest closet, Elphaba's. The door opened and slammed.

* * *

><p>Elphaba was pissed. It was bad enough that the boy followed Galinda around like a love-sick puppy, but now he had changed tactics and had begun badgering Elphaba about her roommate's whereabouts.<p>

'_Maybe I should rig-up the front door too,'_ she mused, _'with something sharp...' _She thought, only half-jokingly.

"Is he gone?" The voice of her roommate, muffled, but unmistakable, appeared to be coming from her closet. Elphaba put her hand over the left side of her face for a moment and walked over to her closet doors and flung them open wide. Galinda squawked in surprise. Elphaba ignored it.

"What the _**Hell**_ are you doing in my closet?" Elphaba was not amused.

Elphaba changed her mind and opened her mouth to say that, _really_, she didn't even _**want**_ to know, but it seemed Galinda beat her to it.

"Thank Ozma! It was horrible, _he_ spotted me near, _Vertinxil's_, you know the vender cart that sells those sweetened Quoxwood-nuts I like so much, the one with the funny little man with the ears…" Galinda motioned with her hands.

"It was my luck that I had on my custom-made _Sardddthans_…" Galinda took a very (very) slight pause to indicate her laced-up winter boots, completely missing Elphaba's wide-eyed 'What-the-Fuck" expression at the onslaught of her words.

"…they apparently are not _just_ good for toe warming and complementing outfits, but for actual usage too!" Galinda was so obvious in the incredulity of her sudden discovery that shoes, were not _just_ accessories, but actually _useful_ in a more mechanical sense, such as in the mode of transportation. Elphaba felt like laughing out loud, but restrained the urge as Galinda, apparently, was not done regurgitating words.

"I will forever be indebted to this pair of boots, after all, they did lead me through those blessed-be nasty alleyways. Disgusting, they were, I think I stepped in a patch of goo…or some kind of mutant goo bug species, but it did allow me to evade that horrible Biq boy again."

Elphaba waited several moments to make sure that the Galinda creature before her didn't burst into spontaneous loquacity again.

'_It's amazing,' _she mused, _'that such a tiny creature can produce such lengthy sounds with no apparent need for oxygen in-between.'_

"Yes, He's gone. It couldn't have been that terrible. Quoxwood Trees don't bear nuts, and the "funny little man" with those ears you speak of," Elphaba motioned with her hands much like Galinda had, "is a Quadling, and I spent much of my childhood with his people." Galinda had enough sense to look slightly abashed of herself.

"As for you and your boots, I'm glad you two get along, I see promising possibilities for this emerging symbiotic relationship. And this mysterious mutant goo will forever go down in Ozian history as an unknown phenomenon. This so-called 'Biq,' whose real name you couldn't remember if your _life_ was staked upon it, He's not all horrible..."

At this Galinda just glared at Elphaba, who put up a green finger to halt what she sensed would be a long, l_ong_ flurry of words flying up at her.

"…just _mostly_ horrible, with the _unbelievable_ misfortune to have been cursed with more annoying personality traits than any _one_ being prudently ought to have, and still expect to live a full life, and the ridiculous idea that _he_ will prevail over the rest of the rich pretty boys at Shiz who have tried to loosen that rather tight petticoat of yours, and have systematically one by one, failed."

At this last statement Galinda seemed to have been rendered speechless. Several times she opened her mouth and tried to speak, but it seemed nothing would come out. Words had left her.

Elphaba sighed, and briefly wondered why conversation between them was always so…fiery. She tried to start over and repeated her first statement.

"What the _Hell_ are you doing in my closet Galinda?" Elphaba's tone was tired, with traces of annoyed amusement, along with something that almost seemed like reluctant fondness.

"I like that." Galinda looked down at her feet. Her roommate had a way about her dark eyes; when she looked at you, they were strikingly intense, as if they claimed to read your insides the way they might a book.

"What?" Elphaba was curious, her roommate had just gone from sullen wordlessness to…be it 'quietly shy' maybe?

"I-I've just never heard you say my name before. That's all." Galinda looked up at her friend. Yes, friend. Somewhere during her time at Shiz, in-between all the bickering, somehow they had managed to cross that invisible line, into the territory of friendship.

"No, I guess I haven't." Elphaba looked thoughtful. And then she gave Galinda a crooked-smirk of a smile and Galinda smiled back 

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Yes, the author does indeed know that tomatoes do not grow on trees, call it creative license.<em>

(Credit: _The Flower that Shattered the Stone_, Lyrics by John Denver)


	4. Closeted Motivations

Previously in _The Untold Story_:

"_I-I've just never heard you say my name before. That's all." Galinda looked up at her friend. Yes, friend. Somewhere during her time at Shiz, in-between all the bickering, somehow they had managed to cross that invisible line, into the territory of friendship. _

"_No, I guess I haven't." Elphaba looked thoughtful. And then she gave Galinda a crooked-smirk of a smile and Galinda smiled back._

* * *

><p>"I am still curious though; really? My <em>closet<em>, _Pretty_? Surely even you could have found a more conducive environment in which to conduct such private matters." Elphaba grinned inside her head and waited patiently for the inevitable.

Galinda looked confused for a slight moment until understanding crashed into her mind and she flushed a brilliant crimson red. Elphaba cackled.

It occurred to Galinda that she was…was she being teased? A most curious feeling washed over her and she did not recognize it as rapport. Lost in thoughts, she did not respond.

Elphaba was baffled. She teased Galinda without mercy about "self" matters and Galinda…Galinda in turn seemed to have absconded with her mind leaving her body behind, if one were judging by her dazed expression. Long seconds passed in this odd fashion; Galinda half out-of-body and Elphaba bemused at the situation as a whole.

The point soon approached when Elphaba felt inklings of worry stir and pondered the consequences of…poking her roommate.

'_What else does one do when one's roommate appears to have misplaced her mind from her body?'_

Elphaba's relief was immense when Galinda's bifurcated body and mind appeared to coalesce, as awareness lit her sky eyes once more.

The green girl raised a shapely eyebrow at her roommate in expectation of clarification. Upon the attention, Galinda predictably blushed. Elphaba, keen to return to familiar relations, rolled her eyes.

Whether she ignored or forgot Elphaba's dirty closet quip, she didn't mention it. Instead, Galinda swallowed and appeared to find her voice. The blonde ducked her head slightly and averted her face, still flushed pink.

"No one's ever cared to talk _to_ me…" the blonde shuffled her feet, "…as if my thoughts don't belong to furniture."

Dark eyes widened with an emotion Galinda could not name. But the hue reminded her of the rich soil hidden beneath, in depths of the forest. A fleeting thought of suddenly wanting to garden rushed through her mind; Galinda brushed it off. Concerned at her roommate's expression, she whispered,

"Elphie?" At that, the moment was lost, only to be replaced by another.

"I _have_ a nick-name?" Elphaba arched an eyebrow, trying fitfully to conceal her blush or rather her darkening in color, with sardonicism. Despite her chagrin, she was glad for the return to normality, for them anyway; it was less…thought provoking.

"In my head you do: Elphie."

"It's a bit perky." Elphaba retorted sarcastically. Not thrown off at all, the blonde continued.

"Well then, maybe your mood will follow it then." Now smiling saucily, Galinda shrugged her shoulders and looked over at the slightly annoyed green girl. Elphaba smirked, rather amused and impressed by the girl for keeping her footing in their game. Nevertheless, she kept up her pretense of well…being Elphaba.

"I do things in your head?" Elphaba quipped. Galinda reddened (yet once again) and Elphaba mildly feared for Galinda's eyes; that they might pop out of their sockets.

"MISS ELPHABA!" The so-named grinned. "I said _**NO**_ such thing!" Galinda indignantly squeaked, with her hands clenched in small fists.

Elphaba moved closer, to stand at the entranceway to her closet. At her approach, Goosebumps rose on Galinda's elegant extremities exposed to the air. The two were now separated by inches of air, only.

"Au contraire, _my pretty_, but you did. We both know just how impeccable my memory is, twisted mind that it resides in aside."

"Must you _always_ twist my words into the gutter?" Despite herself, Galinda was almost, _almost_ enjoying the word sparring between the two.

"I quite like the gutter, thank you very much, you should visit sometime. Its accommodations for longtime residents are rather murky indeed, much like my aura."

Elphaba was amused at the pacing of her roommate. Her movements were limited, as the closet's width could not have exceeded beyond three strides from one side to the other. '_Rather like a, frenzied mouse_,' Elphaba's mind supplied.

"_Your aura_ is well overdue for a cleansing, and what better way to begin than my proposed fresh and uplifting name?" Galinda wildly thrust an index finger in the direction of her roommate nearly poking out an eye. A green hand deftly caught the offending appendage in a firm hold.

"No wonder Madame is so hesitant to give you a wand; you're not yet in control of the limbs attached to you." The finger-clutching hand moved a safe distance away from the green smirking face and opened to release its catch. Galinda pulled back with a "humpf."

"And somehow you think that this new-fangled _monstrosity_ of a name you've branded me with will '_perk-ify_' my dour humor and lighten my aura…"

Galinda's face changed to one of hurt. "_Monstrosity_? Is that _really_ what you think of it?"

Elphaba's face softened at her roommate's crestfallen look.

"No, Galinda. It's not the actual nickname I oppose. Just realize that renaming the green girl doesn't erase her severity toward the general population, nor will it ease _theirs_ toward her." Slender green fingers softly pulled Galinda's downcast head upward, and brown eyes of unfathomable depth looked into clear blue. A sad smile graced Elphaba's lips.

"Stop trying to give the green girl a heart," Those infinite ink-like pools were captivating; liquid chocolate, with a subtle beauty all their own, and Galinda found herself wanting to dive in deep, and swim.

"…when we both know she doesn't have one." Her eyes let a quick flicker of pain bubble-up to the surface before pushing it back below, into the dark depths to flounder once again.

But Galinda glimpsed it, and saw through Elphaba's words; the shield they were, masking her eyes.

The hand dropped, and Galinda found herself missing its touch.

"They don't see what I see." A surprisingly brave hand came up, and Elphaba watched as it placed itself over her heart, or at least where it should be.

"You might not show it much, Elphaba, but you do have a heart. You're just so quick to hide yourself from the world, under this…this harsh pretense of yours, Elphie." Astutely Galinda had hit upon the truth, and Elphaba didn't like that. She didn't like that at all.

"There is no pretense here, _Pretty_, I happen to be genuinely harsh and deeply callous." These things Galinda touched upon were wounds Elphaba was not yet ready to reopen, let alone heal. Firm but gentle hands removed her roommate's and Elphaba swiftly steered the conversation back to her safety zone with Galinda: impish wit and banter between emerging friends.

"We've sorely digressed, from the conversation that _was_ at hand. So let us reiterate; what is so fascinating about my closet, it can't be my clothes. You've told me numerous times that I've the fashion sense of a toad. Will you come out already, unless you're in a mind to switch our wardrobes for this term?" Though idle, the threat still got Galinda to scurry out quickly, and she sat upon Elphaba's bed, plain bed dressings and all. In the back of her head Elphaba faintly mused at the liberty taken.

"You're trying to change the subject!" Galinda exclaimed.

"Clearly. The _closet_, Galinda!" Elphaba said with minor exasperation, now at the foot of her bed, hands on her hips. "You're such a run-around, you ought to consider politics, really; no one would ever get anything done or get a straight answer out of that little pink mouth and blonde head of yours." Galinda wasn't sure whether to be insulted or flattered; one never was where Elphaba was concerned.

"But, back to the closet. Motivations, my pretty, your motivations for Operation Galinda-Closet-Stowaway."

"Biq!" Galinda spat out. Elphaba fondly rolled her eyes at the mispronunciation.

"Boq," Elphaba corrected her automatically out of habit.

"Biq, Boq, it's all the same…the Biq-Boq boy then if you will…" Galinda threw her hands up.

'_You would think that the stupid word would be short enough for anyone to remember. It's only three letters, but then again this isn't __**anyone**_ _we're talking about, it's_ _**Galinda**_…_funny though, that she should remember the first and last letter, yet forget the vowel_…' Elphaba pondered.

And then cackled when Galinda's motivation finally sank in.

"Boq!" she laughed, bending over slightly with her hands on her thighs in mirth, "_**Boq**_ is the reason why you were cowered in my closet?" Elphaba clasped her hands together in utmost delight at Galinda's predicament. Galinda crossed her arms over her chest and pouted in a most Galinda-like fashion.

"Now let me get this straight…it wouldn't do for my account of your _troubles_ to be crooked now would it? You chanced the horror of my, as you call it, _bleak_ wardrobe to escape from the wrath of a _**4' 5'' Munchkin**_?

Galinda's cheeks colored slightly as she heard the ridiculum of her logic out loud.

"I know he's been _highly_ bothersome of late, to put it mildly, and he does have this rather nasty habit of following you around, and thanks to you, Galinda, now _me_. But _really_, Galinda, _hiding_ in my closet?" Elphaba was still laughing in mirth.

"_**You**_, weren't there this morning. He actually tracked me down on the way back from my time-alone-walk!"

'_Hmmmmm….since when does she ever need time alone…she loves people about her_.' thought Elphaba.

"He must have seen me and waited in the market place outside Shiz. It's a _two_ candle-mark walk from town to my location. Do you know how _long_ he must have waited there until I returned? The sun was high past the noon mark, Elphie. And when he found me, I braved the passageways and managed to lose him in hiding there."

At the mention of the passageways Elphaba frowned. _Bad things_ happen in those passageways, and she didn't want Galinda gallivanting around them.

"And then for _Lurline's_ sake! He followed _you_ to the room. This is beyond persistent, it's obsession! Flying tomatoes don't even deter him."

Elphaba could see Galinda was working herself up about all this Boq business. She supposed that if the blonde were a teapot, steam would be pouring out her spout, much like the words tumbling from her mouth. The green girl sighed and joined her roommate on her bed. Absently mindedly, green fingers twirled a golden curl.

"He's not obsessive, _silly_ girl." At a glare from Galinda she amended her statement. "Well, maybe a little…but only mostly smitten, I believe. In his eyes, you can do no wrong and you're still playing hard-to-get."

"HARD TO GET!" Elphaba winced at the loud noise in her ear. Galinda had now jumped off the bed and was pacing back and forth, dangerously close her roommate's toes, ranting.

"He thinks I'm playing hard-to-get? I would _know_ if I were playing hard-to-get! _**I**_ invented hard-to-get!" Elphaba smiled. It seemed her roommate was quite…_cute_, when riled up.

"True as that may be," and Elphaba didn't doubt it, "…the boy seems to reside in the denser side of the boy spectrum. Perhaps a more subtly direct approach is needed for your dissuasion."

'_I never thought the day would arrive when __**I**__, Elphaba Thropp, the token green pariah of Shiz would be giving __**social**__ advice to Galinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper-Uplands, Miss Popular-in-Pink…' _Elphaba couldn't help but see the irony in the situation.

Intrigued, Galinda stopped wearing a hole in the dorm room carpet. Her roommate was brilliant, oh that much she knew. Elphaba continued,

"Obviously, the direct approach has failed miserably. And the subtle ignoring just spurs him on more. Why not combine the two, and _show_ him you're not interested."

Galinda beamed in luminous understanding and rubbed her hands together in glee.

"A _date_! I don't know _why_ I didn't think of it before. _Ooooooooh_ and I have just the boy; he's been hounding me for weeks…." Galinda babbled in excitement. Then much to the tall Munchkinlander's surprise, she pulled the green girl off the bed by the arms and with a squeal, danced around with her…or more precisely danced while Elphaba stood wide-eyed at the sudden happy blonde bouncing about her.

"Why, Miss _Elphaba_, you're but **brilliant**!

And with that Galinda gently kissed her roommate on the cheek and sprinted off to the bathing-room to re-Galinda-fy herself, leaving a bemused and slightly giddy Elphaba standing with her hand touching her cheek as an onslaught of foreign emotion poured over her. It was unfamiliar territory, this pleasure derived from the presence and care of another being. She basked in the feeling, letting it fill her, and tucked away a piece of it for a stormy day.

"Elphie?" Galinda voice broke Elphaba's deep concentration, and although she found that the feeling had receded somewhat in intensity, it didn't completely leave her. And when Galinda poked her head out of the doorway, faint flutters resurfaced at the sight of the blonde.

"What if this date idea _doesn't_ work?" Galinda doubted worriedly.

"It'll work." Elphaba's steady countenance reassured her. The blonde bit her lip smiling shyly at her roommate.

"Uh…Elphie, thanks." Elphaba nodded her head in acknowledgement, and her eyes shone with an expression Galinda could not quite recognize, but for some reason it made her cheeks fill with a rosy tint. She gave another shy smile and drummed her fingertips softy on the doorframe once, brushed a stray helix curl behind an ear, and ducked back into the washroom.

With this new feeling coursing through her gently, Elphaba stared at the half-open bathroom door for a moment and started toward her bookcase for reading material of some sort. Mid-stride she turned and called out to her roommate with a mischievous grin,

"And if _that _doesn't work, you could always kick him in the 'biq-boqs'…"

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Please Review! I know there are more than <strong>4<strong> of you out there reading this, as I've received **over 350 hits** on the first three chapters alone. So please, make my day and review, it really does mean the world to me!_

(Credit: _Wicked_, borrowed a line from the Popular dialogue and a Fiyero line from the lion-knapping scene in the musical and revamped it.)


	5. A Day in the Life

Classes were to begin in two days time at Shiz. The short recess was coming to an end, and the last of the students were returning to the school grounds; once again idle people milled about. Excited voices filled the hallways of the dorms and suitcases, brought up from the carriages by the hired drivers, lined the halls. Friends and peers reunited with hugs and shared stories of exotic family holidays abroad.

In a room at the end of one such hall, a green girl stood in front of a frosted window, and silently stared out into the courtyard below. The enchanted tree outside the window was out of place still green with its leaves and red tomatoes, though they were covered in a light sheen of frost. Fingers itched to, but refrained from, tracing patterns in the frozen dew that made the window sparkle brilliantly in the light, like a dance.

'_How rather fast this week came and went...'_ Elphaba was lost in thought. _'Funny how things change in such little time…'_

A brass knob turned, clicking, as the door creaked open revealing a pink buckled-shoed foot, then a white-stocking clad leg, and finally blond curls bouncing, as Galinda struggled to balance a heap of shopping bags and simultaneously hold open the door with her elbow.

Elphaba turned and smirked slightly. _'And funny how some things obviously haven't…'_

Galinda's cheeks were rosy from the crisp winter chill, and her hair was mussed from the blustery wind. Her blue eyes sparkled with youth, and white teeth bit a pink bottom lip in amusing deep concentration. Blue eyes spotted Elphaba.

"Well, _really_! Are you just going to _**stand**_ there? Come _help_ me before I drop it all!" Galinda exasperatedly exclaimed.

Elphaba pretended to contemplate her roommate's command as she walked toward the blonde.

"You _didn't_ say the magic word…" she teased.

Galinda huffed, "_Now_, Elphie!"

"_Now_…_that's_ not the magic word…." Elphaba muttered under her breath.

The green girl gave a small chortle and she proceeded to relieve her roommate of a significant portion of her burden. And together, a plethora of bags in arms each; to the frilly bed they went.

Galinda then crossed the room in a few steps and flopped unceremoniously on Elphaba's bed, as her own was now covered in a mountain of packages and various bags.

Galinda hands covered her eyes as she moaned, "Lurline, my feet hurt!"

A wry look adorned Elphaba's face as she dryly replied, "Perhaps, _my sweet_, it's because you seem to have bought out all the stores within a fashionable shoe's walking distance."

Galinda lolled her head into the soft (but in her mind) dreary-colored bedding.

"**HA!** _This_ is nothing, Elphie, I'm merely getting back into shape for spring fashions…Now _**that**_ is hard-core shopping, and I'm so out of shape!"

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow.

"You're _training_ for shopping, Galinda! Not that I _should_ be so surprised…but for the unnamed god's sake! How can _you_ be out of shape from your chosen extreme _sport_?"

It was clear from Elphaba's tone that she was a long way off from considering shopping a sport.

"Alright _**book**_-girl," Galinda sat up.

'_Did she actually just call me 'book-girl'?'_

"For someone so smart, it seems that you are severely lacking in basic girl knowledge."

"_Enlighten_ me then, _**shoe**_-girl!"

'_Did she actually just call me 'shoe-girl'!'_

With a rather loud and pouty _"hmmmmpft,"_ Galinda began what she believed was her civic duty as an elite social-butterfly: the "enlightening" process of the less socially fortunate.

* * *

><p>2<em> Hours Later…<br>_

* * *

><p>Elphaba was sprawled on her bed, arm over her eyes as if warding off evil; in this case Galinda's incessant chatter.<p>

"Elphaba! **Elphaba**! Are you _even_ paying any sort of attention at all?"

Elphaba had _tried_ to listen, she really had. But after awhile she could only look on incredulously as her roommate carried on and on about social 'Do's and Don'ts.' This 'sub-girl-world' was completely alien to Elphaba, one in which she did not belong. While some part of her was appreciative of Galinda's attempt of inclusion, most of her just felt displaced and somewhat annoyed and irritated. And after two hours of her roommate's incessant and animated chattering she had had _more_ than enough.

"No. No, I'm not." Elphaba deadpanned.

"You lost me after the correct protocol to _run_ in heels….why you would ever _run_ in heels, let alone even _wear_ those torturous devices is far beyond the scope of my comprehension. However, I, on some very _very_ low subconscious-level, do appreciate your efforts to turn me in some sort of socialite, but please, Galinda, favor us both and leave me to my brooding self and comfortable shoes."

Galinda pulled her uncooperative roomie up into a sitting position and stared at her for several odd moments. Crystal-blue and deep brown eyes connected for a long second. For a small moment in time Galinda allowed her ever-so-carefully-crafted mask to slip, and Elphaba could have sworn that she saw understanding within those eyes and surprisingly, envy and longing.

'_Envy for comfortable shoes…'_ Elphaba pondered. _'…or perhaps for the life of the girls who wore comfortable shoes?'_

And then Elphaba understood.

Elphaba understood what money and power forced children of the elite to do: hide themselves away. And the Arduennas of the Uplands were some of the most elite in Gillinkin. As Heir Apparent of Munchkinland to His Eminence, her grandfather, Elphaba was no stranger to the art of deception. It had only showed her how deceitful and dishonest people could be.

It seemed that Galinda was not all that she presented herself to be. Perhaps the girl _**didn't**_ enjoy the pains she took to maintain her social status. It was beginning to be more clear to Elphaba that this high-maintenance and girly façade, clever and convincing as it may be, was simply a ploy. It did however plead the question as to why Galinda still continued the charade if she was so unhappy.

But almost as soon as this glimpse of the 'real' Galinda was shown to the world, or rather just the green-party present in the room, it vanished, only to be replaced again by that all-too-sincere expression, that Elphaba now recognized as falsely true.

"But Elphie, that was _**only**_ my third lesson!" She exclaimed exasperatingly with just a touch of a whine added for good measure.

And with that, once again the ambiance returned to the superficial layer of comfortability.

Elphaba rolled her eyes at the comment and fell back into the dreary-colored bed with a satisfying '_wooopmf._' It was the only thing she _could_ do.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: I apologize profusely for the delay, dear readers, but my Harry Potter muse struck and has kept me ever so busy these past few weeks. I am sorry that this chapter is so short, but this is what typed out. Keep on watch for my new story! And fear not, I will continue to post updates to this one as well! Thank you so much for all the views...I believe this story just reached 700! Keep the reviews coming, they motivate me...<br>_


	6. The Bush is Everything

It was a bright and shiny day at Shiz. The sun shone on students lazing outside; it even crept inside through the windows in streaks of yellow, shinning brave. The tail end of a month long cold front, heavy with snowfall, had terminated but a mere and short week ago. It was inconsequential, as the odd weather in Oz often was, due to its temperamentality.

In Oz, especially upon approaching the Emerald City, the frequent weather and season changes were not unusual. It was not abnormal for a day to be a sweltering heat oven, and then chilly with hail the next. In fact, the last month of recurring snowfalls was the most stable the weather had been in Oz for some time. But of course, the normal way of things is to return to homeostasis, which in the case of Oz, is erratic.

Therefore, although it had been quite nasty and drizzling on and off all day yesterday (Elphaba had taken refuge inside the dorm), it was not strange that today it was bright with cheer filling the air from the warmth of the happy sun.

It was because of this happy sun that Galinda found herself outside strolling along the paths of the grassy grounds of Shiz with her similarly colored roommate. Galinda closed her eyes and breathed in the air. She could smell the sun and taste the sky. She felt the wind dance across her neck; a diversion in its journey to wherever it blows. She felt the warmth deep within herself; it was a ball of utter feeling, and it was almost too much. Galinda felt as if she were floating on the wind, no…she _was_ the wind, she was nothing; yet she was everything. She was _Everything _and _Nothing_, and so she did not notice when she began to push some of the nothing and everything out of herself.

Elphaba had over the years mastered the skill of reading while walking. She nonchalantly flipped page after page as she walked along side her frolicking roommate. Somehow her blonde friend had managed to coerce her into a walk around the grounds. She had folded her protests only after Galinda had told her to stop being such a '_walker-stopper' _and that Elphaba could take her stupid book along. Mind you, Elphaba had then fumed for a good half candlemark about _why_ she needed Galinda's _permission_ to take her book along. But in the end she had agreed, yet remained irked because she was unsure why she went.

And so the two walked along, Elphaba with her nose thrust in book and Galinda taking in the day's good feeling.

Out of her peripheral vision, a flash of color caught her attention. Elphaba cursed under her breath as the flash of ungainly color across the lake registered as the ever-annoying (and infamously un-color-coordinated) Boq. She was feeling pleasant, and nothing destroyed a pleasant mood more quickly than a persistent Munchkin. He hadn't spotted them yet, that was clear. Had he, he would have already begun following Galinda around religiously.

'_That boy has an almost __**sick**__ devotion to Galinda…kind of like my dear __**dear **__sister and her twisted love for the Unnamed God._' She rolled her eyes at the thought of the ever faithful and cruel Nessarose.

Elphaba's fingers kept place in her book as she held it close against her body and gazed at the sullen boy across the way. Even from a distance, unable to discern his facial expression, from his posture she could tell that Boq was clearly distressed that he hadn't of yet run into Galinda.

'_**Lurline**_, _it's like Galinda __**is**_ _his religion…_' She chuckled softly at the thought of Galinda being a religion, although a faintly, an ironic and fleeting thought flittered across her mind. That…

'…_it __**wouldn't**__ be that difficult for Galinda to entice the world…to follow her whims…'_

She decided to ignore him. And she decided to not mention his presence to the blonde beside her, who was so peacefully enjoying their stroll. Elphaba had seen Galinda's joy as she felt the sky and touched the sun. The fact that Boq was unaware of their presence was a point in their favor.

The second point, was that Elphaba was present. He was still miffed that she had bewitched the tree outside their window to chuck tomatoes at _intruders _so inclined to climb up the twisted ivy vines on the building with the intent of peeking through the window. And Boq was positively _livid_ at Elphaba for ruining his _best _dress silk (as he called it) though it was in Elphaba's opinion that she thought it no great loss and that the Wizard might be happy to have his balloon back.

Satisfied with the safe distance of the threat, she went back to her book. Every now and then the green girl would glance up from her reading and unbeknownst to both of them, her eyes would soften as they fell upon her roommate's free antics. It was during one of these moments that Elphaba noticed that Galinda seemed to have a glowing aura about her. She seemed to brighten as if she was the sun herself, and Elphaba had to squint as if to see her entity completely.

Intelligent eyes studied her Galinda, thus so far completely unaware of her own _affliction. _She seemed to be the embodiment of lightness itself and radiated a pulsing power that was blinding…

'…_blinding….?'_

Elphaba searched for the apropos wording to describe the waves from Galinda that had begun to wash over and through the green girl. She stood next to this pulsing source of power and it nearly overwhelmed her as she felt the pulses flow into her and out. Elphaba was the _Nothing_…she was _Everything_. And she _was_, and she was _not_.

It was good. It was not just _good_, but _**Good**_…Elphaba realized.

'_So_ _**this**_ _is what it's like to feel good…and not Elphaba-like…'_ She mused in an almost state of delirium. The closest thing Elphaba could come akin to was the high she had accidentally attained as a child, when she had walked into a room filled Opium fumes from her father and his smoking colleagues' pipes.

Now of course, at the most inopportune time, Boq on other side of the lake happened to catch a glimpse of the ever-growing luminous Galinda. He shouted her name a few times quite loudly, in fact so loudly that several fellow students enjoying the good weather and cheer told him to "shut his face."

Either due to the acoustics of the landscape or the magical phenomena gaining momentum across the lake, neither girl heard him; they were both too caught up, one unaware in discovery and the other in her companion's magical wake.

Elphaba was transfixed by her blonde companion and the feeling of _goodness_ that now resonated within her. Galinda almost seemed to be pulling the good feeling from the day inward, shooting it back out in glowing ripples.

Everything now seemed _more_, simply _**more**__._ Colors more saturated; the grass more grassy, the sky bluer. Smells filled Elphaba's nose deeper; the earth smelled rich…black and earthy dirt. Sounds were no longer background noise, but a harmonious symphony in Elphaba's ears. She could taste the sun and touched the warmth. Everything was _clearer_…everything, and Galinda's golden curls glinted in the sunlight brilliantly, with the intensity of a thousand shiny coins.

It was as if Galinda was harnessing the essence of the sun itself and all its power, like some sort of magical generator. It was close to tangible; Elphaba could almost touch the magic that was lingering in the air. She felt it resonate deep in her bones and felt its vibrations hum deep within her limbs, her cells. It was a somewhat familiar feeling, as to her magic was innate, but this _brand_ was not her own; it originated from Galinda. And it _felt_ like Galinda. Elphaba felt Galinda permeate deep down inside of her pores. She felt her smile and her laugh, and the way she crinkled her nose when she was happy.

As for Galinda herself, she only had noticed that she felt obscenely serene and as if the world was breathless at wait for a command of a sort. She stopped walking and turned, trying to voice this to Elphaba, fully expecting to be competition with Elphaba's book. But what she found were deliriously happy but curious brown eyes of strength gazing back at her. Delicate blonde lashes blinked trying to gain mental clarity.

"What's _happening_ to us, Elphie? What has happened to _me_?" Galinda whispered urgently.

Sensing a serious talk, Elphaba put the book (pressed against her form that she had nearly forgotten she still held) into her satchel.

Confused blue pools searched brown ones, seeking answers. Without a thought to her actions, Elphaba pulled Galinda close to her; her green arm wrapped around the small of a delicate back and made soothing motions in her hair with the other.

"It'll all be alright, _sweet_…you never _**told**_me that you were _magical_, Galinda…" Elphaba murmured against blonde curls and felt the small body startle in surprise against her.

Elphaba's mental eyebrow quirked high in comprehension. Although Galinda had been taking sorcery lessons, she hadn't for a moment thought that she might _actually_ be magical.

Anyone in Oz could learn to perform a spell with the proper instruction. But to be _innately_ magical, was a whole different matter entirely. It gave the caster an array of endless and powerful possibilities; ones that often were never completely discovered or comprehended, even by the magical person themself. It was a room of doors suddenly unlocked, but with no directional hint given. It was to have a rare power, which all would envy and never understand; yet at some level all would fear it for its greatness. It was to harness the power of emotion and direct it at a desired outcome.

"I-I'm _**wh-hat**_!" Galinda trembled in Elphaba's arms.

'_This isn't __**possible**__!'_ she thought. _'I can't be __**magical**__…'_

"_Magical_, my sweet, you _are_ **magical**…." Elphaba had lead the pair off the path to stand underneath the shade of a tree near the lakeshore (impressively without relinquishing hold of her fragile charge.) Galinda held on tightly to Elphaba as a lifeline; the only thing keeping her afloat and grounded.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Boq was frustrated with the lack of response from Galinda. He had yelled, waved his arms in manners that were frighteningly scary to onlookers, and whistled shrilly to the annoyance of the ducks floating lazily in the lake. And yet, all his antics had failed to capture the attention of <em>his<em> fair Galinda (as he liked to think of her.)

He saw that the pair had stopped and now stood beneath a leafy tree. He saw the green girl embrace the blonde tightly and whisper something in her ear intimately. He squinted and rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the affectionate display that seemed to _glow_ before his eyes. He didn't like it somehow; it didn't sit well with him…it _should_ have been _him_, not _**her**_. He fumed and began to make his way around the lake over to the pair.

* * *

><p>Oblivious to the Munchkin tirade across the lake, whispers of memories spoke to Elphaba, as she felt the faint sting of more than a decade's old slap. Her face hardened for a short moment before she stuffed it in a corner with all the other hurts of old.<p>

'_No...'_ she thought. _'…__**no**__! It will be different for Galinda…I will __**make**__ it different for Galinda…'_

She remembered the confusion held by a young green child, having this…this _feeling_ of _different_ inside her, and no place for the _different_ to go. And when the _different_ became too great, things would…_happen_. And then her father would pray for the demons to be cast out of her, and when that didn't work, yell and hit her….

She pulled (more like pried) Galinda away from her own body, which was no easy feat. Elphaba's eyes roved over her friend. The glow, though weak, still came from within Galinda. It was still there, however, the strength that it was had weaned a bit and it now flickered in and out like a candle shivering in the wind.

Though Galinda might not know it _yet_, there was great strength in her to be found, Elphaba knew. It was because of this that Elphaba raised her roommate's chin with her fingers, so that blue met brown. Fear and unspoken questions lay in the blue and reassurance was to be found nestled in the brown.

Elphaba waited. Galinda was never one to stay silent for long, whereas Elphaba could outwait the most patient of men if she had to. Galinda bit her lip in that habit of hers that Elphaba now knew to be a nervous one.

She opened her mouth to speak and instead simply let it hang open in surprise at the sight walking toward them. Fearing the cause and irritated with the untimely interruption, Elphaba followed Galinda's gaze to the distant but ever-growing-closer, clothes-clashing Boq.

Galinda beat Elphaba to the curse.

"**Fuck**…"

Elphaba was slightly surprised at the expletive from her refined roommate; she raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement despite the situation. Had the situation been different, Elphaba supposed that she might have found some quip or another with which to rib her roommate. But then she also supposed that_ had_ it been a different situation, the need for such language from _lady_ of such would not have resulted.

Her momentary good humor passed and she scowled at the rapidly approaching multicolored apparition. But then Galinda turned to her and said so seriously,

"_Elphie_, we **really** need to work on _your_ _timing_."

Elphaba stared at her for a split second and then burst out laughing.

"_**My**_ timing? _**You're**_ the one who decided to have a magical epiphany at…" Elphaba glanced at the positioning of the sun, "…at the third mark past noon during a lakeside walk where there are Munchkins _**prowling**_ about. More conducive to our **sanity**, perhaps we should work on _his_ timing!"

"He** does** seem to pop up when we _least _want him, _doesn't_ he?" Galinda mused. "Oh _dear_, he doesn't look **happy**."

Elphaba cackled at this last statement from the blonde.

"My sweet, there is no _least_ wanting him, it's a factor of _not_ wanting him at all that makes his popping up so repugnant! And I'm not surprised that he doesn't look…how **did **you put it? Oh _yes_, **happy**. After all, you have been outright ignoring him and even a Munchkin **that** dense will notice something that _blatant_ if it hits him smack in the face with a ripe tomato."

"_Repugnant_? That's a bit…strong, _objectionable_ is more like it!" Galinda said emphatically.

Elphaba was incredulous. "You want to use the word **objectionable** to describe the boy who sent you cowering into the bowels of my closet?"

Galinda tried to explain.

"It's not that I _don't_ want him, it's the _**way**_ that I don't want him! Why must every boy think that I want them _that_ way!" Galinda angrily huffed.

Elphaba understood, she thought it odd that she did, but she did. However, to be fair, and of course for the love of playing devil's advocate, she quipped back,

"_This_…coming from the girl who made a _bet_ at the beginning of the term with the ever _engaging_ Shenshen and Pfannee, that she could date _all_ the eligible, and some of the non, boys before the All Hallows' Eve ball?"

Galinda pouted.

Elphaba rubbed her temples in vexation remembering that night.

"You _told_ twenty-five boys…**TWENTY-FIVE**, Galinda, that you would be their date to the ball that night! That's more than an entire Flintz team!" (which was twenty-four players…)

Galinda scratched her neck and gave her a sheepish look.

"And that's _not _the least of it! While you were off **gallivanting** with Avaric, who by the way has _ridiculously_ stupid hair, I actually had to tell twenty-four boys, several of whom _were_ actually _on_ the Flintz team, that unfortunately you would **NOT** be accompanying them to the ball that eve. For Lurline's sake, Galinda, you made that Flintz player, you _know_, the big beefy one, **cry**!"

Galinda shuffled her feet and looked very unhappy. Elphaba didn't know quite what it was about her blonde roommate, but whatever _it_ was, it made her pained to see the girl unhappy. She took Galinda's hands in her own. Her initiation of touch startled the blonde; Elphaba avoided human contact like the plague unless it was an absolute necessity. But Elphaba had slowly begun to realize that Galinda was the exception to her rule.

"However, I **do** happen to know that you were **raving** **drunk** when you made that bet, and that your pride (along with your convictions) about keeping your word were what fueled you to win."

Galinda smiled, it was a small one but a smile non-the-less.

"And those Ozian earrings of Pfannee, once worn by Ozma VI, weren't such a bad _incentive_ either," Galinda added slyly.

'_Always the little socialite with an eye for fashion…'_ thought Elphaba.

And as if a Boq-bell had rung to alert them of his presence, the girls taciturnly glanced to the path to monitor Boq's progress toward them. He was still a decent ways away, perhaps another two minutes or so. Galinda looked at Elphie. She clapped her hands and stated,

"You're **gree**n," in an almost excited manner.

Elphaba gave her an incredulous "you're just noticing this now?" look.

Galinda waved her hands in a dismissive manner and shook her head back and forth.

"No, _no_, **NO**…I _mean_, you're **green**!" As if _this_ better explained everything.

Amused, if not suppressing her staggering need to inform Galinda that she was glad to help her with color identification, Elphaba instead replied,

"So I've noticed."

Predictably Galinda flushed.

"Can't you like, um…turn us into a _bush_ or something, they're kin to you practically!" She pleaded as Boq began to come around the bend in his last five hundred yard stretch to the pair bickering (Boq-ering?) under the tree. From anyone else but Galinda, this bush jib would have smarted, but from the blonde it was merely a joking and friendly acceptance.

"A _**BUSH**_!" Elphaba yelled quite loudly and looked at Galinda like she had suggested that she wear pink. "I'm not turning us into _bushes_! Human transfiguration is a _delicate _and **difficult** art, quite horrific when gone wrong! And I'm definitely NOT turning us into _bushes_. "

Dehydrated from their stroll, Elphaba grabbed a thermos out of her satchel and nursed some cider as she waited for Galinda's inevitable outburst

Exasperatedly, Galinda threw back quite loudly, "_**What**_ have you got against _**bushes**_!"

Elphaba spit out her drink in surprise and laughter. She proceeded to snort and cackle as Galinda, oblivious to her double entendre, continued to unknowingly dig herself deeper into gutter-land.

"I mean they're nice and uh…_bushy_! You know, kinda furry, and some of them when you get close enough, smell nice..."

Elphaba was leaning against the tree for support and holding her stomach from laughing so hard. She snorted and looked up at Galinda who had an utterly clueless look on her face until…the light bulb of dawning switched on inside that blissful blonde brain.

Galinda turned beet red.

Elphaba took advantage of the situation (as any good friend, or enemy, _would_ do). She composed herself and walked toward her mortified roommate.

"You _know_," she said in a sing-song voice, "For some one who is soooooo _good_, you _can_ be rather **bad**…bushes indeed!"

Galinda got quiet for a moment. A long moment. So long that Elphaba thought that she had pushed her too far and gone overboard in her teasing antics.

"Ga—"

"Did you _feel_ it too?" Galinda locked eyes with her and asked softly but clearly.

The lightheartedness of the moment had passed. Seriousness, now resided in the crystal-blue eyes, for which the Arduenna Upland's were famous.

"_Feel _what?" Elphaba questioned back, just as softly. It was as if they both innately knew that it should be kept secret.

Galinda was silent for a few beats.

"The…the _goodness_…" she breathed.

Elphaba nodded. "I felt it," she told wide blue eyes.

"It felt like _you_…" Elphaba had an odd wishful tone in her voice, a tone that was matched by the warmth in her eyes. Galinda had heard that tone once before, and yet she still couldn't place what it was, or what it meant. And she doubted that Elphaba could have told her had she asked.

She began to respond but Elphaba cut her off.

"Don't _**look**_, but he's near now…" Galinda frowned and of course began to look. Chuckling, Elphaba grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled Galinda back toward her.

"_**Ninny**_, I told you not to look!" Her words, though frivolous, soon gave way to sobriety and became serious.

"Galinda, **listen** to me, I want to…to _try_ something…do you_ trust_ me?" It wasn't until later that night that it occurred to Elphaba that Galinda had responded without hesitation.

"Of _course_."

"Good," with a glance at the approaching Boq who was now about the length of Flintz field away, a somewhat devilish look flared in Elphaba eye's, she smirked, "…because if this _works_, you'll probably not have to worry about lover-boy over there for a long _long_ time to come…"

Curious and very intrigued by the rare playful look in Elphaba's eye, Galinda was happy to indulge her friend's whim. As to what the whim was, Galinda remained in the dark, but she knew that Elphaba was not one to disappoint. So in a very un-Galinda like move, she decided to be patient and trust Elphaba to guide her along the way. Years later, looking back, Galinda realized that it was a pivotal turning point in their relationship.

"Alright…you _need_ to do this by _yourself_, but I will be _here_ along the way, to share the ride."

Elphaba placed herself behind Galinda and tentatively put green hands on the small girl's hips. She waited for the flinch that she knew would come. It always did when she touched people more intimately than in simple passing. But then it _didn't_, come that is. Galinda never even flinched a muscle.

"Is this…is _this_ okay?" Elphaba fell like a child, vulnerable, exposing her belly to the world. She felt Galinda's nod, and a heavy weight fell off of her.

"Close your eyes." And Galinda did.

"Magic is tied to your emotions. I want you remember what you felt like inside…like _before_." Elphaba didn't have a name for what had happened. But they both knew what she meant anyway. If she had to describe it though, it would be _birth_, the magical birth of Galinda.

Galinda remembered floating. She remembered serenity and being suspended in…everything and yet nothing at the same time. She thought of how she'd tasted the sky and touched the sun. And how it was all _good_; nothing could touch her inside this bubble that was all her own.

And then suddenly she wasn't _just _remembering. She felt the beginnings of a mental tingle. She felt the _Everything_ and _Nothing_ build and she felt it pulse weakly. Somehow she knew though, that it wasn't strong enough. It wasn't enough.

"It's too _weak_, Elphie…I can't…" What she _couldn't_ though, she didn't quite know, only that she couldn't…_yet_.

Elphaba had felt the slight change in Galinda. She had felt her skin hum and her bones begin to sing.

"I know….it needs _more_. Think of a happy memory." And Galinda did.

What came to mind was not a memory, it was a feeling. And it had happened today, when Elphaba had embraced her after her confusion.

"Hold it and _draw_ from it…." A low voice husked in her ear, and Galinda trembled slightly.

She didn't remember this time. She _felt._ She felt the arms around her and the hand stroking her hair. She felt the murmured words against her head and the utter safeness within the embrace. Absolutely _nothing_ could touch her here. And yet, at the same time the _nothingeverything_ could…she felt everything…she _was_ everything.

Galinda wasn't past or present; she just _was_. She was feeling. And the feeling grew. It was warm. It was sun. It was the sound of the wind whispering and it was the smell of the earth. It was long dark shinning locks of hair. It was a touch of comfort in the dark. And it balled inside of her swirling and expanding with bursting emotion until the opportune moment when-

"_Push _it out…**force** it!" The voice urged her.

Galinda didn't want to, it felt too _good_; she didn't want to let the happy go. She wanted to—

"_**Now**_, Galinda!"

And because she trusted the voice, she did. She pushed hard, and thrust it out. Galinda's eyes sprinted open to see her hands fly up of their own accord and thrust a glowing ball of energy outward…

…Thrust a glowing ball of energy right into Boq's path, who stood there, not ten feet in front of them with his jaw slack and hanging open. The poor boy didn't have a chance.

The glowing ball hit him in the stomach with a huge force and swept him literally off his feet, flying backwards until—

**SPLASH!**

Loud and incensed squawking from several ducks. Silence reigned for several short seconds and then-

"Did I just…"

"Yep."

And then a very drenched, angry, and scowling Munchkin surfaced in the middle of the lake.

"Interesting that _**that**_," Galinda cocked her head toward the now sputtering and treading Munchkin, "…came from _**that**_…" she said holding up her hands, referring to their magical endeavor.

"_**I**_ say, _impeccable_ aim, _Miss Galinda_."

Galinda giggled and Elphaba grinned. The blonde stared in amazement, and she realized that Elphaba never _really_ smiled, smirked yes, but a full out grin…_never_. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. And so Galinda smiled back. And the two stood there smiling until,

"We're just a bunch of grinning idiots, aren't we?" Elphaba said and chuckled.

"Perhaps," replied Galinda as she linked arms with her green roommate and began to walk down the path back to their dorm, away from the now rapidly swimming Munchkin who was frantically trying to get back to shore before they left.

"…but at least you're _my_ grinning idiot…"

Elphaba felt a warmth settle within her, this _one_ magically free.

"Perhaps we could turn **him **into a _bush_." Galinda idly supposed.

"Yes, I _suppose_," Elphaba mused out loud before turning to Galinda. With a wicked glint in her eye, she continued,

"…but then we'd have to deal with a **dripping** and soaking wet_**bush**_, and we just can't have_** that**_ now, can we…"

Predictably, Galinda blushed a fierce red and Elphaba cackled heartily, and the two continued walking down the path, pink arm in green.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note<em>: _Thank you, dear reader, for your patience. I thought to gift you with a longer chapter in return for your amazing support and reviews. R & R please!_

(Credits: _Grey's Anatomy_, for the bright and shiny mantra, the_ Harry Potter_ realm - for the idea of human Transfiguration)


	7. Male Mail Quagmire

The mail stagecoach made its noisy way through the winding and arbitrary paths of Shiz; its spoke-like wheels clacked along the mismatched cobblestones. It was an elaborate vehicle, as was the style. Made of lush Quoxwood, deep blood red wound its way, trimming the carriage in twisting looped patterns.

Two Animals, Trox and Enfrox pulled the carriage; Horse brothers that were rather dull in coat, similarly as they were in stimulating discussion topics; hence the reason current conversation had turned to _supposing_.

For the last half candle-mark or so, they had been _supposing_ the inner contents of a rather large and ostentatiously wrapped package. The bundle in question momentarily rested uneasily in the carriage, bumpy as it was.

The _supposed_ package was atrociously wrapped in chartreuse paper embellished with loud _fuzzy_ polka dots of orange. All this was "complimented" by a ribbon bowtie of sordid mustard; it clashed quite horribly with the bright orange and chartreuse. In fact, the parcel gave off the appearance of a shunned finger-painting; its _medium_, rotting and regurgitated food. When the package was shaken (not that it _had_ been…of course…) it made a gentle **SWOOSHING** sound.

"…perhaps then, it's a rare purchase of _some_ sort or another….maybe a gift from some far-flung traveler, _cavorting_ in a distant land." Trox contemplated out-loud, wishfully in his gravely voice.

Enfrox snorted in response, making clear his dissent and disgruntlement of such frivolous notions from his brother's mouth.

"_More_ likely it's some horrendous weapon of destruction meant for the masses; cleverly disguised amongst ridiculous frills and ribbons...far-flung _rare_ purchase my **ass**!...hrrrrumphft..." Enfrox muttered loudly and rather jadedly as he trudged along; continuing to put one hoof in front of the other in a mechanical method, one without joy.

"Or perhaps, even _more_ likely, wrapped by a Munchkin!" Enfrox neighed laughter at his own joke. Munchkins were well known for their _colorful_ ensembles, which were often…_mismatched_, to put it kindly.

Trox ignored his bother's comments, or perhaps most likely they sailed clear over his head by a good two mental feet. Whimsical and gullible as he was, Trox hadn't been blessed with the best of brains, whereas Enfrox had a keen mind but was as cantankerous as cat in heat with hot coals shoved up its nostrils. Once, when their mother referred to them as _polar_ opposites, Trox asked her why she was likening them to a _Bear_.

"I wish sometimes that I weren't a Horse…wouldn't it be _nice_ to not have to…to _pull_ anything! Sometimes I wish I were a Fox! Or an Ass…or even just an ass!" Trox said.

"Believe me," Enfrox quipped, "You _**are**_an ass."

Further conversation was heated as they reached _The Commons_ of Shiz. Every third day, when the yellow sun hit its third candle-mark past noon, (save on Lurlday, of course, for it would not do for mail-call to be held on the Ozians' sacred day of rest) mail-call was held. Mail not claimed by present students was then delivered to the student dormitories that were specified in various penmanships on a multifarious assortment of sized and colored envelopes. Trox and Enfrox were both very fervent to see to whom the odd package belonged, and hopefully the revelation of its contents inside.

_The Commons_ consisted of a grassy stretch of knoll-less land with benches for passersby students, forever filled with green foliage; it had been enchanted by Madame Morrible, you see, so it would forever remain rich and vernal; full of life, despite the unpredictability of the capricious weather in Oz.

* * *

><p><em>Simultaneously:<em>

As they made their way, two bickering Horses pulling a coach paid little, if any, attention whatsoever to their surroundings. Had they done so, or were less deaf, they would had noticed the odd trio following them, along the twisty paths throughout Shiz.

Elphaba, Nessarose, and Boq were an odd-looking group for passersby to behold: a tall slender green girl, clad darkly; a more severe looking, but normal colored girl clacking along in a wheelchair; and a short Munchkin decked out in colorful (but atrocious) duds, almost jogging to compensate for his shorter limbs.

The three were making their way to _The Commons_ for mail call. Elphaba tried to ignore her two companions and observe the scenery: the flaming red and orange leafy trees for which Shiz was famous and aptly named for: Shizanths. Despite her best efforts, she was not completely successful in her endeavor; it was rather difficult indeed, as she was directly behind Nessarose, pushing the chair.

The other two Munchkinlanders were constantly alternating between bickering with one another and trying to gain Elphaba's attention. Yet when they _did_ gain her ear, it was only to shrill in it. Their voices grated on Elphaba and at the moment she genuinely wished that she had mastered a muting spell.

As their bickering continued, Elphaba tuned in as the name _Galinda_ penetrated her hearing.

"…there are _other_ girls than **Galinda**!" Nessarose said earnestly, with a tiny hint of sarcasm, which was impressive for her.

Boq scowled at this, and explained to Nessa,

"There may _be_ other girls, but **Galinda** is the essence and epitome of _all_ girls!"

Elphaba smirked and muttered under her break, yet still audibly, "That _may_ be…but _you_, Master Boq, fall a few inches short of the…_epitome_ of all men."

Boq completely missed the crest-fallen expression on Nessa's face at his last statement; he heard and was distracted by Elphaba's layered slight, which he ignored, save for a dirty look cast her way. Elphaba, however, did _not_ miss her sister's gloomy face and took a mental note, for later.

"She'll eventually come around to my charms!" Boq continued confidently.

Elphaba stopped dead in her tracks, causing Boq to run smack into her while he was lost in the exaltation of his courting skills.

With an incredulous look, she all but laughed at him.

"And you consider _stalking_ to be charmful?"

Nessa stifled a giggle despite herself.

Boq glared up at the green girl; he still hadn't forgiven her for her involvement in the lake-dumping incident.

"I wasn't talking to _you_, Miss Elphaba. _Miss Nessarose and I_ are conversing."

Nessarose frowned, and uncharacteristically defended her sister, "That was _quite_ rude, Master Boq."

The Munchkin grew quite sullen and was silent as the three approached _The Commons_.

A small crowd of students had already gathered in anticipation of the carriage. As Elphaba and her companions (ill-suited ones as they were) made their way onto the grass, a Quadling with "funny-looking ears" (as Galinda called them) half-hopped out of the coach. Though his legs were firmly planted on the grass, his upper half rustled inside the package-filled vehicle to locate his list. It created a rather odd visual of a pair of legs, standing, independent of body.

For the sake of the present student body, and her sanity, Elphaba sincerely hoped that Galinda's long awaited package was not listed; she would rather avoid any Boq-caused chaos at mail call, amusing for _her_ as it might be.

Despite Elphaba's discouragement (or rather emphatic orders) to leave things well enough alone, Boq had been stalking Galinda's expected package from her parents, the arrival of which Galinda had entirely given-up hope. But for several weeks now, every third day, Boq had faithfully followed the mail carriage to _The Commons_, to await the arrival of a package for his Galinda. Perhaps, it was some strange Munchkin custom, but more likely, it was Boq just being…well, _Boq-ish_.

After all, he _had_ seen Galinda checking religiously for a delivery ever third day, and then every-other third mail-day, until eventually her visits to _The Commons_ had petered off completely. And so, Boq took it upon himself to check for her.

'_Shoes, or something…'_ he thought. _'She's always having shoes delivered, so this just must be a __**really**__ important pair…an-.'_

He paused in mid thought, and then promptly scowled as one of the Horses make a snide comment about Munchkinlander dressing-methodology. He swept it aside; as if were a mere oz-fly. He thought, perhaps, that if _he_ were the one to _personally_ deliver the parcel to Galinda, she would be overwhelmed with his consideration, his charm, and she would fall eagerly into his arms without protest. Boq smiled wishfully at the thought.

The package in question was indeed important to Galinda. More than Boq could possibly fathom. It was carrying the dress from the Vinkus, promised to her months ago by her absent parents. As far as Phannee and ShenShen discerned, Galinda was just eager to don a new dress boasting the latest Vinkus fashion. But then again Pfhannee and Shenshen only knew that which Galinda _wanted _them to know. And oddly enough, it was Elphaba who suddenly found herself the true confidant to the most popular girl of Shiz. But it wasn't the private confidence that told her this; rather it was the things of which Galinda did not speak.

And so, Elphaba knew better. This dress was a desperately needed reassurance; it symbolized that Galinda's parents remembered and still _cared_ of her existence. And reassurance was something that was _crucial_ to the well being of the newly discovered sorceress.

With the discovery of her magical talents, Galinda was having random power surges more and more frequently. Strong emotion of any kind, whether it be exhilaration or misery, prompted power swells to rise within her. It was as if the emotions themselves were independent agents, spiraling out of control, and acting autonomously of her mind and body.

For one to magically bloom so late…it was _rare_. For most magical beings, Elphaba included, powers emerged at a young age usually by age seven. Elphaba worried that this pent-up cache of untrained power with no appropriate outlet would be too much and overwhelm her friend. So Elphaba, to her putrid disgust, managed to arrange Galinda's much needed magical training personally with Madame Morrible, but only after some pride-smearing pleading and caveats.

Merely the day before the last, during lunch, Galinda had exploded a sandwich all over Shenshen; the silly girl had made a snide comment about Elphaba's skin oddity. Now had it been on _purpose_, that would have been a marvelous occurrence, but it hadn't; Galinda's powers were uncontrolled. And it was clear that master guidance was needed, more than Elphaba could offer; Galinda's emotions were provoking magical outbursts over which she had little or no domination. To Galinda, her own skin was a tight enemy; an environment fostering uncontrollable elements and in which it was unsafe to reside. She felt uneased; never knowing what would trigger her powers; her mind now a foreign and unpredictable object.

Elphaba now watched, severely annoyed, as Boq bounced slightly, eagerly awaiting the mail coachman to read off the 'A-name' packages. Much to Elphaba's irritation, Boq's long weeks of waiting were rewarded as the clan name _Arduenna_ was called off the long parchment that curled to the ground.

Boq all but pounced upon Quadling coachman and said too eagerly,

"I'll take that!" Boq, feeling entitled, reached out to take the rather horrific looking parcel from the coachman's hands, but the Quadling coach hand swiftly raised it out of reach (which wasn't very high). Trox and Enfrox, still tethered to the carriage, watched with great interest. Amusedly, with a raised eyebrow, the Quadling said with an accent,

"An' yer name iz **Galina'**, izit now…pritty _gerly_ name fer uh boy…"

Several girls giggled behind Boq, he flushed and Elphaba smirked.

Red-faced Boq said, "No _Sir_, I'm picking this up for my _lady_ friend!" Boq puffed out his chest.

Elphaba couldn't help but burst-out into a cackle, and several of the students who knew Galinda snickered. Boq shot them all dirty looks as the coachman, trying ever to be the consummate professional, tried rather unsuccessfully not to chortle. With his face twitching in his efforts, the Quadling took a closer look at his long and curling list. After a few short moments he shook his head,

"W'll, seems ta _meh_ that yer lady 'riend iz un'ware that she's-a _got_ uh gent'man 'riend…" The coachman said sarcastically, "…'cuz she didi'not put yoo on-a da list ta picka up eny pack'ge!" The Quadling looked again at his list.

"'…'Owevah, id _does_ say dat uh Miz Elf'ba 'Ropp iz auth'rized fer pick-ip."

Elphaba hid her surprise, but deep down was most pleased. To Boq she shot a shit-eating grin. To the Quadling, she bowed and formally addressed him in Quasi, the language of his people,

"Master Coachman, Elphaba Thropp, Third-Thropp Descending of the Red-House, wishes to stand-in for the Miss Arduenna."

Surprised, but pleased, the tall Quadling inclined his head slightly to acknowledge the strange one who knew his customs. His eyes widened and he bowed as her surname and title brought him heavy connotations, and her skin color identified her as the royal child famously raised by his brother clan.

"Purple River," he indicated towards himself, "Youngest son of the Purple-House is honored to serve Fabala, adopted daughter of his brother clan the Red-House, Third-Thropp Descending, Heir Apparent of Munchkinland."

Elphaba's face gave no hint of her surprise and unease. Not many here at Shiz were aware of her political importance, not even Galinda. But she reasoned that no one could understand them, as long as they spoke in the language of the Quadlings. Boq stood opened-mouthed at the exchange happening, while Nessa merely looked annoyed and tiffed at the fanfare her sibling was receiving.

As the two bowed to one another once more, Boq took advantage of the Quadling's distraction. Boq scowled and darted forward to grab the package. With the coachman caught unaware, Boq impressively managed to snatch it from Purple River's hand. The Munchkin then proceeded to burst out into a full run toward Crage Hall, with an ireful Quadling hot upon his heels. Trox and Enfrox, still harnessed to the carriage, along with the students, watched this change of events with a somewhat gleeful fascination.

Unfortunately for Boq, his shorter legs were not as conducive for running as were the lengthy legs of the Master Coachman, who caught up to the franticly dashing Munchkin as he was running alongside the lakeshore. Next thing Boq knew, he had a muscular Quadling atop of him and they were grappling for the ugly and now slightly smushed package. As fate would have it, for the second time in a short span of weeks, Boq found himself sitting in the lake, this time holding a parcel with a very unhappy Quadling yelling and gesturing angrily at him,

"Look wot oo did! Gonn a'let oo 'splain this ta yer "_Gerly'riend_"!" The Quadling tromped off back toward his carriage and the other waiting students. And a dismayed Boq, now with very wet pants, sat holding a sodden package, and quite pitifully burst into tears.

* * *

><p>Elphaba gently shook off the Quadling's emphatic and apologetic overtures; she left him to finish mail call. Walking toward the lake, she grew angry as the consequence of Boq's actions became apparent. He was sitting forlornly in the shallows of the lake, holding a very wet and very horrible looking package. He looked so dejected and despondent with big tears rolling down his face, that Elphaba took pity on the boy.<p>

She crouched down on the shoreline (careful to avoid the gently lapping water) and without a word reached out her gloved-hand in invitation. Boq sniffed as he handed her the ruined packaged. A quick look inside sure enough indicated that indeed this _was_ the package for which Galinda had so hopefully waited. It now held a very wet, very dirty, and very ruined fashionable Vinkus dress.

Elphaba sighed, package in hand, as she stood-up and began to walk away. Boq called, stuttering out after her,

"Y-you c-couldn't p-p-possibly _**not**_ me-mention this to Ga-Galinda, c-could you?"

Elphaba inclined her head, indicating that she would, _not _that is.

"I will, Master Boq, but in exchange, abandon your…_quest_ of her, for a fortnight. Or, consider our terms rendered null."

Boq opened his mouth to protest against the blackmail, thought better of it, shut it, and agreed nodding. And so Elphaba walked away from the Munchkin sitting in the lake, with a sodden package in arm, back to her sister and the dispersing crowd. Mail call, it seemed was over. Elphaba pointedly looked at the package and then to her sister.

"_This_ is the boy who you've set _your _sights upon!" A gloved hand gestured to the form still struggling to escape from the oozing mud that coated the bottom of the lake.

"For _Lurline's_ sake, Nessa, the boy _stalks_ inanimate objects!"

Nessarose, flushed and eyes flashing, screeched,

"Don't you dare_ use_ that pleasure-faither's name! The Un-named God is the _true_ path, and _I_ would _never _take his name in vain!"

Elphaba was silent. It would be of no use to argue with Nessa. Years of this only proved fruitless and led to unpleasant…_talks_ from her father. And even now, no longer under his reigning hand, habit still kicked in. Nessarose's rant quieted.

"He is…_determined_." She weakly protested.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow,

"If by _determined_ you mean, obsessive, then yes…_determined_."

Nessarose pursed her lips, but remained silent, as if it were beneath her to acknowledge Elphaba's comment.

And so, the two sisters made off for Crage Hall, the green one pushing the other. Along the way they passed Boq who was now trying to free a foot from the sucking mud. He swore as his foot suddenly slipped out with a _**SQWCAUCSH**_, sans the boot. She saw the glance Nessa bestowed upon the pitiful form.

In her clever head, Elphaba began to craft the beginnings of a plan. All the while, it occurred to her that males pinning over girls, simply ought not be allowed at mail call.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Liberties with Quadling culture have been taken. <em>

_I apologize profusely for my delay in updating this story - official I'm putting it on hiatus. I welcome any input as to where you would like to see this story go...perhaps it will break my block. R & R please, I look forward to it. _

_Until the next update, faithfully Yours,  
>GE<em>


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